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UNH Speakers Bureau

Do I really need to have that test? Understanding risk and making medical decisions in the age of "Too Much Information" (TMI)

Program Description:

Even in the age of Too Much Information, the truth is that in health care we have less hard data for treatment effectiveness than most people believe. Often, predicting a serious problem with precision is beyond our science. So, when a clinician tests for a diagnosis or recommends a treatment, what may be lurking behind that decision? Is it evidence-based reasoning? Or, could it be market-based pressures, ingrained ritual, or simply clinical ignorance? Are you, the consumer, entering the health care visit with fear or hope fueled by the barrage of media proclaiming health threats and new, powerful treatments? How do you decide what to do?

Speaker:

Gene Harkless

Dr. Harkless, an associate professor of Nursing joined the University of New Hampshire faculty in 1985 and she continues to practice as a family nurse practitioner at Families First, a federally qualified health center in Portsmouth, NH. She was selected for two Fulbright Senior Scholar awards, the first to Norway in 1997 and the other to India in 2004. She continues as a visiting professor in Norway. Dr. Harkless is currently president of the NH Nurse Practitioner Association and was recently named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse practitioners. Her scholarship focuses on global issues in evidence-based practice, decision-making, and elder care.